E46 M3 fuel consumption

[325iMSport]

Possibly looking to get a E46 M3 in the future but need to budget on the extra costs of running it.

Ive been looking at the official stats of both the E46 M3 and E39 M5, and the fuel comsumption for both these car is almost the same.

How come this is the case as the M5 is around 300kg heavier and has a much bigger engine? Does the M3 run really rich as standard?

[Dick_Phallus]

If you have to worry about the mpg I'd suggest you might not be able to afford the other running costs...

Edit:

Here's a list of real world mpg attained by PHers.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by Dick_Phallus on Wednesday 30th June 20:35

[marcosgt]

That said, it's quite impressive for the performance...

M.

[john_p]

About 30 if you nanny it on a motorway, 20-24 mixed driving and less than 20 if you try hard enough.

It probably pales into insignificance given the other costs (tax, Inspection I/II, brake disks/pads). That said, buy one.

[nottyash]

I had a 54 plate that i used to travel 600 mile round trips at weekends, mostly motorways and i got over 29mpg. Once 30.8mpg. Doing a steady 80.
Around town was about 23. They are fantastic considering the performance.
Get one!

[frosted]

nottyash said:

I had a 54 plate that i used to travel 600 mile round trips at weekends, mostly motorways and i got over 29mpg. Once 30.8mpg. Doing a steady 80.
Around town was about 23. They are fantastic considering the performance.
Get one!

I can get up to 35mpg in a 2tdi passat , guess depends your town . Round here is gridlock daily and it takes up to 30-90 minutes to do 6 miles

[325iMSport]

Thanks for the replies.

At the moment im getting 21-22mpg from a 325.

[LJTS]

Clocked up 90K in my E46 M3 & the trip computer is displaying 23 mpg

It has been reset a couple of times over the last 4 years but returns to 23 mpg average

[NickXX]

I've averaged about 24.5mpg over the last year/9,000 miles in mine.

About half of my driving is on the motorway. You'll generally get high 20s/low 30s on the motorway.

The e39 M5 seems about 5mpg down in most situations (housemate had one).

[mat59]

nottyash said:

I had a 54 plate that i used to travel 600 mile round trips at weekends, mostly motorways and i got over 29mpg. Once 30.8mpg. Doing a steady 80.
Around town was about 23. They are fantastic considering the performance.
Get one!

What he said. They really aren't bad on a run.

Running costs are not that bad overall. Pretty strong cars and considered more reliable than the cooking E46's. There's a buying guide in one of the BMW magazines this month that was very complementary about the M3.

The biggest expense is inspection one and two services as the valves may need adjusting. This is approximately every 30K so, so not too bad. Reckon on £3-400 for insp 1 and £400-500 for insp 2 from an indy. I've always considered this to be slightly offset by the fact that the engine has a cam chain rather than a belt so you don't have to pay to have this replaced every so often.

Other weaknesses are rear springs that can corrode and snap. Easy DIY fix and about £100 per spring. Rear trailing arm bushes and suspension top mounts need replacing every 40k or so, but not hugely expensive to fix.

Brakes are expensive at £100 per disc. Tyres can be as much as £1k per set. This can be much less (half or so) if you go for Vredsteins or Kumho Ecsta's.

SMG has more potential to go wrong than a manual.

[Hornsey]

I average about 22-23 day to day running with some spirited driving. Reasonably rapid motorway runs see about 27-29 although I did achieve nearly 34 from London to Yorkshire once at a cruise control 70mph. All of this is in my 2003 facelift model. As other posters have said servicing, tyres, brakes and other running costs are more significant.

[MattOz]

My M3 averaged just over 27mpg. My M5 averages just over 24mpg. I reckon on getting 325-350 from a tank in either. Bearing in mind that the tank in the M5 is 7 litres bigger than the M3, I'd say those figures are about right.

If you're thinking about getting one, just do it!

[PompeyM3]

As everyone else has said, Just do it. Fantastic cars to drive and something that will put a smile on your face.